The litany of questions has been constant for weeks now. So, too, have been the answers.

The Giants’ defensive line understands its play influences the team’s level of success perhaps more than any other unit. They are aware that the pass rush has fallen fall short of the lofty, perhaps too lofty, expectations set before the start of the season, save for a couple performances that have served as reminders of the unit’s game-changing capability.

For most of the season, they’ve insisted the troubles do not all fall on them; that some, maybe most, are the product of opposing offenses’ heightened awareness and effective game planning.

Now, in Week 16, defensive end Justin Tuck is second-guessing the hypothesis.

"Maybe we’re giving O-lines and offensive coordinators and offenses too much credit," said Tuck, who is unsure of his status for Sunday’s game against the Ravens because of a shoulder injury. "Honestly, I think we just need to stop worrying about what people are writing, what people say about our pass rush and just get back to beating people up front. I think if you start listening to what people say about ‘You’re not getting sacks, you’re not doing this,’ you start trying to look for answers instead of focusing on the answer, which is you beating the guy in front of you."

The Giants’ inability to do so has left a prideful group of pass rushers frustrated. The Giants rank 16th in the NFL with 32 sacks. Of those, 18½ have come from the four defensive ends (Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, Mathias Kiwanuka and Jason Pierre-Paul) that comprise the once-feared NASCAR package. Last season, the Giants finished tied for third in the league with 48 sacks and the four NASCAR package members, including Dave Tollefson instead on Kiwanuka, combined for 35½ of them.

Sacks are the easiest, and arguably laziest, method to evaluate a pass rush. But though they don’t illustrate the complete story, the numbers still provide a snapshot. And no longer is that fear there for opposing offenses. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh sang the unit’s praises, but said he wouldn’t use the word fear.

"He shouldn’t," Tuck said matter-of-factly.

Against the Falcons this past Sunday, the Giants recorded one sack and Matt Ryan was pressured on just 14 percent of his dropbacks, according to the statistics website Pro Football Focus.

Tuck and the rest of his linemates believe the potential remains; that the defensive line can turn it around in time and make quarterbacks miserable for three hours. They’ve done it in the past. They did it on their Super Bowl run in 2007 and again last season with nearly the exact same cast of characters. They believe the connection isn’t a coincidence — the Giants go as the pass rush does.

"We accept that responsibility," defensive tackle Chris Canty said. "We want to be held accountable for that. We understand that if we get it going it, it makes everything easier for everyone else."

While Tuck backed away from crediting offenses, defensive coordinator Perry Fewell didn’t. Fewell said quarterbacks are throwing the ball quicker than he’s seen "in a number of years" and offenses continue to attack the defense "a little bit differently."

"I think we’ve publicized our sacks so much that people have taken a different approach in how they pass protect and how they get the ball out against us," Fewell said.

No player has encountered a more challenging shift than Pierre-Paul, who, after bursting on the national radar last season with 16½ sacks, has just 6½ this season. Fewell said Pierre-Paul rarely faces a single blocker as a result of his success, but maintained that the third-year defensive end has played well this season despite what the numbers may indicate.

"I am going to need to step up big time this week," Pierre-Paul said. "I have to. It should be like that every week but I think I have to give a little more extra. I have to pick it up myself and hopefully other guys will follow behind me."

Sunday figures to be an opportune time to do so. Tuck admitted he was encouraged with what he’s seen on film from recent defensive performances against the Ravens and anticipates opportunities to get to quarterback Joe Flacco, who faced plenty of pressure against the Broncos and had a 23.1 percent completion percentage in such situations, according to Pro Football Focus.

Flacco provides another (relatively) stationary target for the Giants. But so did Matt Ryan last week, and that didn’t matter much.

"If we are able to get him in third-and-long situations, if we are able to stop the run, I think it will be better for us," Umenyiora said. "But if we don’t do that, it doesn’t matter if it is Drew Bledsoe back there."